


Christmas Present

by GreyHaven



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Haven Advent 2017, Haven Advent Calendar 2017, Multi, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 14:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13078851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyHaven/pseuds/GreyHaven
Summary: Some Christmas fluff!Post-canon AU, the Three Gulls are in an established relationship.  This is how they're spending Christmas Eve.For the advent calendar prompt - "It’s not always expressed in words, you can act tough, hide it behind sarcasm, but I can see how broken you are..."





	Christmas Present

Duke sprinkled nutmeg onto each mug of eggnog, the finishing touch to one of his many Christmas specialties.  He set one mug to the side, ready for Nathan when he came home from work and carried the other two across to where Audrey was lying on the couch.  She looked so comfortable and peaceful, snuggled up under a blanket and he hesitated to disturb her.

No matter how much he tried to be quiet, Audrey heard him coming, her ears tuned in to every sound in the house, every noise that was normal so she could be alert for any _not normal_ noises that might mean trouble.  She smiled to herself.  It was nice that he tried.  She sat up, creating a space for him next to her, and mumbled her thanks as she took the mug of eggnog from him.  

After a moment, Duke sat beside her and she stretched out again, her feet in his lap, his hand warm where it rested on her ankle.  She threw the blanket over him and smiled when he tucked it around himself.  “Mmm,” she murmured when she’d taken a sip of her drink.  “This is really good, Duke.”

He took a sip of his own and nodded.  “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

Audrey rolled her eyes and gently nudged his thigh with her heel.  “Better than not bad,” she said firmly and took another sip.

Duke rolled his eyes back at her but nodded his acceptance, a small swell of pride filling his heart at the simple compliment.

The lights flickering on the Christmas tree caught his attention.  Nathan had really gone to town on the decorations, helped by Audrey who had finally accepted that she was here to stay and that celebrating Christmas was A Good Thing.  A huge tree filled the corner, not a single branch left unadorned with tinsel and baubles and fairy lights, with piles of wrapped presents nestled under the branches.  More lights were tacked to the walls, along with popcorn garlands and rows of Christmas cards.  The fireplace boasted a huge mantel decoration of holly and ivy, and three stockings hung from it, one for each of them.  A sprig of mistletoe dangled above the doorway, courtesy of Nathan who had taken to lurking out of sight just so he could spring a kiss on one or both of them every time they walked through the door.

It was exactly how Christmas should be - bright and fun and overindulgent, surrounded by loved ones.  He hadn’t been fussed about the decorations, that was very much Nathan’s department, and Duke knew he was overcompensating from so many childhood Christmases without even a tree.

If Nathan was using decorations to overcompensate, Duke and Audrey had their methods too.  Several weeks ago, when the subject of how to spend Christmas had come up, Duke had quietly told them that he’d love to spend time with them but there were so many families in Haven who had nothing, who were going hungry, and he couldn’t not open the Gull, even for one day.  Nor could he reasonably ask any of his staff to work on Christmas day.  They’d hugged him, sandwiched him in between them, and promised to help.  Audrey had smiled, tears glinting in her eyes as she asked if she could invite some people and maybe they could make it a sit down lunch with everyone there.

That was her thing.  She wanted to feel _real_ , as though she mattered, as though she existed.  After so many years of invisibility in orphanages and loveless foster homes, and more years trying to work out who she was, she wanted to be surrounded by as many people as possible.  And so she’d invited half the town, everyone who she loved - Gloria, Vicky, baby Aaron.  Dwight and Lizzie (Lizzie had insisted McHugh came too).  Laverne.  Stan and his family.  Duke had lost track of who was coming, had just made sure the Gull was well stocked with everything they needed to feed a small army - and, of course, Nathan had decorated the Gull just as lavishly as he had the house, so it felt like a home away from home.

Everything was all ready for Christmas day so tonight was _their time_.  As soon as Nathan got home from work, Duke would get started on a special dinner, and there would be presents and cuddling up on the couch to watch Nathan roasting chestnuts on the open fire (it wasn’t practical, but he’d insisted).

“Where do you go, Duke?”  Audrey asked quietly.  He did that.  Stared into space as though he was lost in some deep, dark, thoughts.

Her voice broke through his reverie.  “What do you mean?”

“When you do that...you go blank, like you go somewhere we can’t reach you.  Where do you go?”

“Don’t go anywhere,” he shrugged, aiming for _light_ and _nonchalant_ and failing miserably at both.

“Thinking about tomorrow?  Christmas day?”

“Kinda hard not to,” Duke laughed, waving his hand around to indicate all the decorations.

Audrey frowned at him.  He always tried to brush things off, to pretend everything was fine.  That he was fine.  But he wasn’t and she _knew that_.  “Ghosts of Christmases past?”  She pushed.

Duke laughed again.  He was _absolutely not_ getting drawn into a discussion about the darkest areas of his mind.  “Come on, Audrey, I’m fine.  It’s Christmas, it’s supposed to be _happy_.”

Time to call him on it.  He couldn’t go on burying everything the way he was.  Sooner or later he’d explode from it.  Or implode.  Either way wouldn’t be good.  "It’s not always expressed in words, you can act tough, hide it behind sarcasm, but I can see how broken you are...I know you, Duke, I can tell when it’s an act."

Yeah, ok, that was fair.  He softened, some of the tension leaving his muscles, his smile more genuine now.  He reached out and drew her into a one armed hug.  She was warm against him as she tucked into his side.  “And I know _you_ , Audrey, I can see how broken you are too,” he murmured.  “Nathan, as well.  We’re all broken but we’re here and we’re together and everything’s fine.”

She nodded.  He knew.  He always knew.  He could read her like a book, had been able to since the moment they met.  And he was right, everything _was_ fine.  She was here, she was _real_ , she existed.  Whoever she might have been in the past was just that - in the past.  She needed to focus on the _now_.  Christmas with her two boys, and everyone else.  So many people who she loved, who she’d helped, who loved _her_.

Duke pulled her tighter against him, registering the tiny sniffle that she made as he did.  “Are you crying?  Because it’s Christmas and crying will not be tolerated.”

He always knew that too.  How to make her feel better.  How to draw her out with softness and lightness and humour.  She smiled and wiped her eyes on the edge of the blanket, leaned up to gently kiss him.

A quiet _click_ as the door closed and they both looked round as Nathan cleared his throat.

He smiled at them.  The two people he loved most in the world, who by some miracle were both _safe_.  The three of them had come through the hell of the Troubles together, somehow unscathed, at least physically, and his heart ached for all the people they’d lost, the people he hadn’t been able to keep safe.

“Hey,” he said softly.  “What’s this?  Kissing without mistletoe?”

Duke started to argue, started to say something about not needing an excuse to kiss his lovers, but stopped himself.  Now wasn’t the time.  “There’s eggnog in the kitchen for you,” he said instead.

“Later,” Nathan smiled and dropped his badge and gun onto the side table.  What he wanted most _right this moment_ was to be on the couch with them, snuggled up under the blanket in a great big cuddle pile.  He practically threw himself onto the couch between them and pulled the blanket back around them.  They were both warm, soft and cosy as they pressed against him.  He wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders and held them close.  “Cuddles first.”

“Cuddles are good,” Audrey murmured her agreement as she settled against him, his arm _strong_ and comforting around her, keeping her safe.  Making her _real_.

“Always,” Duke added, leaning into Nathan’s contact, allowing himself to be _anchored_ , his heart filled with love for them both.

Nathan sighed, relaxed and content, the small stresses of the day leaving him now that he was _home_.  Home, where he could see them and touch them and _feel them_ and reassure himself that they were safe.  They were all safe.


End file.
